#DAILY2CNTS – Week of 8/1

By  |  August 3, 2016
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Thursday, August 4, 2016:

I’m always curious about “what lies beneath” the acquisition strategies of companies. Sometimes it’s not all the intuitive at first blush. Take Walmart and Jet, if the rumors are true. What would the world’s largest retailer be doing with an eCommerce player that hasn’t made money, almost ran out of money last year and seems to lack a clear path to profitability (well, until the acquisition, if it happens?). Software. Namely, nifty pricing algorithms that are Jet.com’s secret sauce for delivering prices to consumers that are 10 percent cheaper than Amazon’s. And for a retailer that’s all about Everyday Low Prices, that’s manna from heaven. A $3B loaf, a price tag we can debate till the cows come home, but obviously valuable enough to Walmart to make a play – or at least conjure up speculation that it will.

 

Wednesday, August 3, 2016:

It is amazing to me that people are still talking about bitcoin as a viable alternative currency – and think it is “a-ok” to use as a method of transport for blockchain initiatives. Its price is volatile, it’s the currency that has catalyzed cybercrime, its exchanges are compromised with great regularity – other than that, what’s not to get behind? C’mon now – isn’t it time to move on?

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